Angela E Thelen1, Daniel E Kendrick2, Xilin Chen3, John Luckoski4, Tanvi Gupta3, Hoda Bandeh-Ahmadi3, Michael Clark5, Brian C George4. 1. Center for Surgical Training and Research, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: aethelen@umich.edu. 2. Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 3. Center for Surgical Training and Research, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 4. Center for Surgical Training and Research, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 5. Consulting for Statistics, Computing and Analytics Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A significant roadblock in surgical education research has been the inability to compare trainee performance to the outcomes of those surgeons after they enter independent practice. We describe the feasibility of an innovative method to link trainee performance data with patient outcomes. METHODS: We extracted surgeon NPI numbers from Medicare claims data for common general surgery procedures between 2007 and 2017. Next, American Board of Surgery (ABS) trainee performance data was cross-referenced with additional resources to supplement NPI data. The patient and trainee datasets were linked using NPI number and a linkage rate was calculated. RESULTS: We identified 12,952 unique surgeons in the Medicare file. Medicare surgeons were matched with ABS records by NPI number, with 96.2% (n = 12,460) of surgeons linked successfully. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a novel process to link patient outcomes to trainee performance. This innovation can enable future research investigating the relationship between surgical trainee performance and patient outcomes in independent practice.
BACKGROUND: A significant roadblock in surgical education research has been the inability to compare trainee performance to the outcomes of those surgeons after they enter independent practice. We describe the feasibility of an innovative method to link trainee performance data with patient outcomes. METHODS: We extracted surgeon NPI numbers from Medicare claims data for common general surgery procedures between 2007 and 2017. Next, American Board of Surgery (ABS) trainee performance data was cross-referenced with additional resources to supplement NPI data. The patient and trainee datasets were linked using NPI number and a linkage rate was calculated. RESULTS: We identified 12,952 unique surgeons in the Medicare file. Medicare surgeons were matched with ABS records by NPI number, with 96.2% (n = 12,460) of surgeons linked successfully. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a novel process to link patient outcomes to trainee performance. This innovation can enable future research investigating the relationship between surgical trainee performance and patient outcomes in independent practice.
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